Wish You Were Here

8

The new guy started to come to. The four of us watched and just waited. He was groggily rubbing his head. Gina had stuck him with that injection twice. He must have felt terrible.

As he slowly pushed himself up, we got a better look at him. He was the tallest out of all of us. His brown hair was cut short on the sides to almost a buzz cut, but the top was shaggy and long. His hazel eyes darted back and forth. Judging by his tan and build, I guessed he was athletic. His calves flexed under his cargo shorts.

He saw Grant first and jumped back immediately. Grant sat calmly and didn't say anything yet. He shot a quick look to his right and spotted Cal and then me. He was chained up nearest to Will. He spun around to see Will sizing him up.

"Where am I?" He asked.

Will didn't even answer him. Grant called out from behind him.

"Keep cool, man," Grant told him.

He turned back to face Grant.

"Keep cool?" he shouted. "What's going on? What the heck is this place?"

"I'll do my best to explain it to you," Grant offered. He spoke calmly and carefully.

I listened as Grant explained how we'd each gotten here before him. He introduced himself first and then pointed to us by name.

The guy sat down and looked at all of us. He told us his name was Aaron and he thought he was going to a water polo camp. Just like the rest of us, he'd emailed his dad at Gina's request.

After that, he leaned against the wall in silence. We respectfully left him alone. He'd talk again once he was ready. I wanted to tell him that Gina had to injection him twice, not once like the rest of us. Maybe he'd take some pride in that. It wasn't much, but it was all I could offer.

It wasn't until what I assumed was dinner time that we saw Gina again. My stomach growled, but no one seemed to notice. She walked in and dropped a tray before turning and rushing back out. I guess I'd rather her be quick than stick around. But even Grant wore a confused look at how fast she'd been in and out. He pulled the tray closer and then tossed us each a ham sandwich and bottle of water. I grabbed my previous water bottle and gulped the rest of it down.

The five of us ate in silence. I'm pretty sure we had all four assumed I would be the last addition to this prison-like basement. We hadn't expected a fifth person.

After we ate, Grant laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. Will didn't move much. He always had a stoic look about him, with a 'don't mess with me' expression. If I'd happen to accidentally make eye contact, he would stare me down until I looked away first.

Cal and I sat near each other, each lost in thought. I wanted to ask her more questions, especially personal ones, but held off. Aaron, the new guy, turned to face Will, who gave him the same stare he gave me. But unlike me, Aaron didn't look away.

"What are you staring at?" Aaron asked him.

Uh oh.

I looked at Cal and then over to Grant, who didn't get up, but had turned his head in their direction.

Will's eyes narrowed. Aaron looked him up and down and muttered 'whatever' before moving as far away as he could. I saw Will glaring at him, ready to pounce if Aaron said another word to him.

"Where are you from?" I blurted.

Aaron turned to look at me before answering.

"Philly," he replied. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Just making conversation."

"Yeah, well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta get out of here," he remarked, a scowl on his face.